Test Your Breastfeeding IQ

 Answers

 1.  In the U.S. women who give birth at home are more likely to find breastfeeding difficult.  False.  Based on protocols and policies, women who give birth in hospitals (compared to birth centers or at home) are more likely to be given drugs and receive unnecessary, invasive procedures, all of which can interfere with nursing.  Women also tend to have less support during labor and are more likely to be separated from their babies and offered formula.  For these reasons, women who give birth at home with a trained birth attendant present are more likely to find that their initiation to breastfeeding goes smoothly.

2.  Having a doula at the birth often improves a woman’s ability to get breastfeeding off to a good start.

True.  Studies show that a having birth doula reduces the duration of labor, the need for pain medication, and the likelihood of interventions such as induction, forceps, and Cesarean sections.  Since all of these can impede a smooth introduction to breastfeeding, a doula attended birth can make a big difference.  Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say, not having a doula increases the risk of interventions.

3.  Close to 20,000 hospitals in 150 countries have earned the designation of being “Baby –friendly,” the result of instituting 10 steps to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

True, yet fewer than 50 of them are in the United States. 

4.  Formula companies target marketing at times when women are most vulnerable, such as when breastfeeding is known to be the most difficult.

True.  This is well-documented by the Research, Education and Legal Branch of NABA, the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy. 

5.   If a state has no legislation about nursing in public, women may not be allowed to do so. 

False.  Women have a right to breastfeed in public regardless of whether or not a given state has passed such a law.   Nursing in public is never a criminal offense.  And over 20 states have enacted breastfeeding legislation to prevent women from being charged with indecent exposure, lewd behavior, or obscenity.  Some states may even offer legal recourse for a woman who is told to stop nursing.  La Leche League’s website is a great place for information. 

6.  The economic value of women’s breast milk is calculated and included in the national Gross Domestic Product.   

False.  The only country where this is the case is Norway.

7. The cost of purchasing breast milk from a milk bank is approximately $3.00 an oz. 

True.  This is due to high processing fees.  Unlike the blood we receive from blood banks, milk from a milk bank is pasteurized.  It is not released unless its pathogen load is zero.  Additionally, medical insurance may or may not cover the cost and Medicaid coverage of processing fees varies from state to state.

8.  The Federally funded WIC program, Women, Infants and Children, a supplemental nutrition program of the U.S. government, is the largest purchaser of infant formula in the world.   

True.  Although some state and local WIC programs offer wonderful breastfeeding support and education, the fact remains that the U.S. government buys more formula than any other customer in the world and the bulk of WIC’s infant feeding dollars go toward formula, not breastfeeding support. 

9.  Ninety percent of babies around the world sleep with an adult and for almost all of human history babies have slept next to their mothers.    

True.  It is only in the U.S and similar countries with a cultural emphasis on fostering early independence and self-reliance; a belief that the parental bed is sacred; a preoccupation with “bad touch” over good touch; and a strong belief in privacy, that we have babies sleeping in separate rooms, in their own beds.

10.  The United States conforms to standards created by The International Labour Organization (ILO) concerning maternity leave and time to breastfeed or express milk during work hours. 

False.  Over ¾ of the world’s countries conform to the standards, but not the U.S.  These standards are:  Twelve weeks maternity leave with extension if necessary; cash benefits during leave of at least 66 percent of previous earnings; breastfeeding breaks totaling at least one hour per day; and prohibition of dismissal during maternity leave.